Enhancement of anti-neoplastic effects of cuminaldehyde against breast cancer via mesoporous silica nanoparticle based targeted drug delivery system

Synthesis of novel drug delivery system for targeted delivery of cuminaldehyde to breast cancer cells and the subsequent analyses of anti-neoplastic potential of the drug.3-carboxy-phenyl boronic acid (PBA) conjugated and polyacrylic acid (PAA) gated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were synthesized for the targeted delivery of cuminaldehyde (CUM) to breast cancer cells. Enhancement of anti-neoplastic effects of cuminaldehyde (4-isopropylbenzaldehyde) by the nanoconjugates was assessed.The anti-cancer effects of non-targeted and targeted drug-nanoconjugates were examined in vitro and in vivo. The targeted drug-nanoconjugates caused cell cycle arrest and induced the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through mitochondrial damage. In vivo intravenous injection of the targeted drug-nanoconjugates led to effective reduction in growth of 4 T1 induced mammary pad tumor in female BALB/c mice via augmented accumulation of cuminaldehyde. The drug-nanoconjugates did not exhibit any systemic toxicity.Therefore, MSN-PBA-CUM-PAA represents a potent therapeutic model for breast cancer treatment.